DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team takes an impressive three-game win streak – and a new addition to the roster – into one of the most fun and difficult places to play in college hockey this weekend.
The Wildcats are headed to Orono to face their bitter rivals – the Maine Black Bears – on Friday and Saturday in Alfond Arena, where the fans are loud and raucous and close to the action.
“They’re always pretty crazy up there, especially when we come into town,” said UNH goalie Mike Robinson, a junior from Bedford who has allowed one goal on 56 shots over his last two games.
“It’s probably my second favorite place to play in Hockey East other than the Whitt,” sophomore forward Angus Crookshank said. “UNH vs. Maine is a pretty historic rivalry in all of college hockey, so we’ve got to expect a loud crowd up there and hopefully we can do our best to keep them quiet.”
The teams will face off on Friday night at 7 p.m. and meet for a rematch Saturday night at 7:30 in a game that will be shown on NESN-Plus.
They are the only two games between UNH and Maine scheduled for this regular season and they give the Wildcats a two-game break from what has been a nice November at the Whittemore Center thus far.
UNH has won three straight at home, bookended by a 1-0 overtime win over No. 15 Boston College on Nov. 1 and a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Massachusetts last Sunday.
The Wildcats return home for a pair of games against Michigan next weekend. The Wolverines are in for games on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23.
That UNH and Maine are both off to fast starts to the season adds even more fuel to this weekend’s series.
The Wildcats also should get a lift from Saturday’s collegiate debut of Filip Engaras, a sophomore forward out of Sweden. Engaras practiced with the team all last season, but due to an NCAA ruling regarding a professional team he played for back home, was not allowed to dress for games and has had to sit out nine more games this year.
Engaras is eligible to play as of Saturday night and will be in the lineup.
“I think it’s a tremendous show of his character as a young man,” UNH coach Mike Souza said “He could have left. He could have gone back to Sweden and played. He had fallen in love with UNH and I think his heart was here. But to be healthy and to sit out a whole year, plus an additional nine games, is a lot on a young person. … To not be able to play is hard. Happy that’s behind him.”
Souza and the Wildcats praise Engaras, a 6-foot and 190-pound center, as a two-way player for his attention to both offense and defense.
“I think he’s one of the hardest guys to play against in practice, personally,” Crookshank said. “He’s gifted offensively. He does a great job offensively scoring goals and getting to the dirty areas. He’s a specimen, on and off the ice. He’s big, he’s strong, but he can move. He can move really well. For example, if you cut back on him, he does a very good job of staying with you, containing you, but he’ll also use his physicality against you, knock you off the puck. It’s tough to play against him.”
Souza’s noted it remains to be seen what Engaras will contribute offensively.
“But he’s a player, if you understand the game, you’ll have a real appreciation for the way he plays both sides of the puck,” the coach said.
UNH and Maine go into the weekend tied in the early Hockey East standings for third place with Boston College with six points. UMass Lowell leads the league with a 4-0-2 record for 10 points and second-place Providence is at 3-2-1 for seven points.
The Wildcats are 5-2-1 overall and the Black Bears are 5-3-2 and both are knocking on the door of the national rankings. Each received votes in the USCHO Top 20 poll this week.
The teams split a three-game set down the middle last year. They tied 4-4 at the Alfond on Jan. 21. UNH beat Maine, 3-2, in overtime, on Feb. 1 at the Whittemore Center. Maine won the next night at the Whitt, 5-3.
Robinson, with the wins over BC and UMass, has lowered his goals against average to 1.96 per game, which is fourth-best in Hockey East. His .918 save percentage is tied for seventh in the league. He was a third-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL entry draft.
Maine junior Jeremy Swayman, a fourth-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2017, has a 2.09 gaa and his .942 save percentage is second-best in the league.